Thanksgiving Menu Poem
a concept poem structured around the thanksgiving meal
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a concept poem structured around the thanksgiving meal 〰️
Welcome to the Thanksgiving Menu-Poem. This project is a conceptual meal served as poetry for the thousands of friends I would love to have at our home on Thanksgiving Day.
This series began in 2002 with a Menu-Poem to honor Charles Bernstein, and since then this series engages Thanksgiving as the basis to celebrate poetry, poets, and the poetry community. Being a trained professional chef, I have blended my love of food and poetry into a book-length work as a feast of words and art to bring everyone a tiny bit closer together.
Thanksgiving 2013
Declined
Guest of Honor :
Hurray! It’s Thanksgiving once again, another November, another year gone by, and another time to feast with dear friends. This is the twelfth Thanksgiving Menu-Poem but we are celebrating in a new fashion this year. For the past twelve years we have had a Thanksgiving menu-poem up and available for you to read and enjoy on Thanksgiving. Beginning in 2002 with a poem to honor Charles Bernstein, I began a series of poems, using a menu that I could prepare, in a feast of words that could be presented if we had a table large enough to fit all of our poetry friends.
This is year is no different and we had a poem ready to go, however the poet who we were to honor this year kindly declined. Being from another country whose ideas on thanksgiving are different from our own, if not very similar, he felt that he could not support this holiday. We have written a nice note explain his position which is posted below and on our Thanksgiving Menu-Poem page.
Since the project was completed and presented to our guest of honor, who wishes to be left nameless, there was little time to begin on a new work. So we decided it was best to keep this honor in place and announce his wishes. His ideas are very important to understand and devour while we sit and consume. We should also understand the cost this feast represents. We will certainly be back next year with a new, full menu poem! Hurray!
Thanksgiving 2013 Menu-Poem declined
This year we chose to honor a wonderful poet but this honor has been declined for sincere political reasoning. This poet has been a deeply committed animal rights activist for three decades and anything associated with meat eating, homophobia and generally reactionary nationalist politics would not be something that would be in keeping with his strong beliefs and practices. The thought of this holiday, for this poet, is insulting to indigenous peoples. And in the end, the prospects are all too distressing. To honor this poet, a man of strong integrity and conviction, in the best way we can, this year we will not have a menu-poem. Thank you and we’ll see you next year.
Best, Geoffrey